Phenomena
by caterpe36
Summary: Tracy was just a normal girl, until she triggered her mutant powers that killed her teacher and blew up everything electrical in the school. With the help of a fellow mutant, he helps her escape to the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning where she meets all the characters we love, develops relationships, learns her family's secrets, and tries to control her out of control powers.
1. Welcome Tracy

I will never forget that day it happened. I was seventeen. When the incident occurred, I wasn't really surprised. I mean, I always knew there was something different about me. My hair was pitch black like the night and no dye could change its color. Not one bit. No one in my family has had/has hair like mine. Then, my eyes. My mom always told me they reminded her of moonlight. It was strange because no one in my family has ever had my eye color…not like mine. It was as if I was adopted or not from this world. When I turned sixteen, I made my parents take a DNA test and sure enough, they were my actual parents. My appearance just didn't make sense.

Then…it did.

I walk to the front of my US History class to present my project. I was known as normal in my grade. I had friends. I was well liked…but everyone has that one jerk in his or her grade. Mine's name was Ian Forester. Words could not describe the douchebaggery of Ian Forester. His constant snickering and rude comments did not help the fear I have for public speaking.

As I stood up there in front of the class trying to give my presentation, all I could hear were his comments.

"Oh God, the emo bitch can't speak. Let's hope she's not trying to put the Devil on us." Shit like that. To him and his friends, I'm an emo that worships the Devil. I guess my appearance does give off that idea, but they're the only ones that believe it.

My muscles tightened. I'm suddenly closing my eyes. Sounds are coming out of my mouth that I can't explain. It feels as if electricity is coursing through my veins.

"Oh my God! She is!" he calls out. Only his friends laugh.

"Ian! You talk one more time and I'll send you to the principal!" Mrs. Macy threatens. I can tell with my eyes closed that the lights are flickering. "Tracy, are you okay?" she asks nervously. The lights are freaking her out.

I suddenly feel the touch of her hand on my arm and then I hear screams. I rapidly open my eyes to see Mrs. Macy being electrocuted. Her grip tightens and she can't let go of my arm. All I smell is burning flesh. I break free of her grip and she falls to the floor, eyes open and not moving. Without a doubt, she is dead.

Everyone is screaming, some run out of the room. I just stand there looking at her body. Flashes of memories that aren't my own are running through my head. I try to block them out, but more just appear. I see a little girl that I've never seen before, playing, laughing, calling to me but I don't know what she's saying. I see myself in a man's arms as he carries me into an empty house. But I don't think it's me. Scratch that – I know it's not me.

"Tracy!" a girl's voice calls out.

I don't respond. I look up to see Julia running towards me.

"Tracy! Are you okay?" she calls out.

I don't respond.

"Come on! We need to get out of here!" She reaches for my hand but I quickly back away.

"Don't touch me!" I scream as I put my hands to my head. The projector, computer, and lights start flickering until they overload and explode.

Everyone runs out of the room, screaming in pain as glass shards pierce their skin.

I calmly walk out of the room, somehow avoiding every shard of glass, to see the chaos that's brewing in the school. The electricity is going AWOL. Things are exploding all over the place. People running all sorts of directions surround me. Not one of them touches me.

"Tracy!"

I turn around to see a boy named Dan running towards me. He had shaggy dirty blonde hair and striking green eyes. Up until now, we have never spoken.

"Get away from me!" I yell over everyone else's screams.

He stops two feet from me. "I know," he told me straight in the eyes. "I know everything. We have to get you out of here." With that, I follow him out of the school to his car. He drives over the speed limit towards the direction of our street. "I'm going to take you to your house. Pack a bag with clothes for every situation. Change clothes. Bring anything of importance. Nothing that they can track. That reminds me, hand me your phone." He holds his hand out and I carefully place it in his hand. He rolls down the window and throws it out. "This life no longer exists. You're going to have to start over. Get a new identity." He shook his head. "I knew this day would come, but I always hoped this wasn't how it was going to happen."

"Dan, what is happening?" I asked with some idea of what was going on. This was all happening so fast I couldn't process a single thing. It felt like just a few seconds ago I was in the school looking at Mrs. Macy's dead body.

"Have you ever heard of mutants?" he asked with seriousness in his voice.

I thought about it. "I've heard stories and seen videos of people being able to do weird things, but I never believed it—until now."

"Those are mutants and in case you haven't figured it out yet, you're a mutant too, and today, you triggered your mutant gene. It's usually triggered during puberty due to heightened emotional stress. Everyone is different when it comes to his or her power. Some are lucky, and some are not so lucky. You happen to be one of the not so lucky ones." I knew what he meant, but not fully. I still don't understand what my power is.

He sped down our street. Dan was a grade older than me. He has lived across the street from me for as long as I could remember. He came to a screeching halt in front of my house.

"Wear a hoodie, gloves, sunglasses. We have to disguise you but also cover as much of you as possible. You can't have another incident like today."

I ran into the house knowing no one was home. When I came out seven minutes later, I noticed a bag of his own in his jeep.

"Where are you taking me?"

"My cousin has an apartment downtown. He's on a business trip in China so he let's me hang out there and house sit. We'll stay there until we can get you a knew identity." He looked at me then back at the road. "Put your hood up and put on your sunglasses."

We drove through downtown Dallas. He parked the car in a parking garage and led me to an apartment complex. His cousin's apartment was high-class. It was technically two-story even though the whole thing was on one floor of the complex. The bedroom was upstairs.

"You get the room, I'll take the couch," he said.

I walked up the stairs but stopped. I turned towards him as he set his bag down on the couch. "Thank you."

He smiled.

I laid my clothes out on the floor in neat stacks. Most of my personal items were books. I picked up my copy of Perks of Being a Wallflower and went downstairs to the living room where Dan was sitting in a recliner, flipping through channels on the TV. I sat on the couch, far from him. I couldn't bring myself to read, all I could do was stare at him in curiosity.

"What's your power?" I asked, but soon regretting it. He smiled and put down the controller. He moved onto the couch, then towards me and held his arm out to me. I flinched and jumped off the couch. "I'll hurt you!"

He shook his head and laughed as if it's common knowledge. "Not in the same way."

I slowly walked back to the couch and sat down. I took off my right glove and placed my hand on his arm. Instead of absorbing his energy and electrocuting him, I absorbed his powers. Dan was becoming weak quickly. I quickly let go before I hurt him further. I soon realized I didn't only absorb his powers, but some of his memories. One didn't make any sense. It was him falling from a bridge and then suddenly being able to fly.

"So that's how you knew I was a mutant." He had the ability to sense other mutants and their powers. He could also mimic the abilities of any animal/turn into any animal he wanted. His five senses were heightened.

His powers and his memories quickly disappeared and he regained his strength. "How did you know I was a mutant too?" he asked.

"I guessed." I put my glove back on.

"Tracy, even though the effects for a mutant touching you is different, the results are still fatal. You can kill a mutant too, just not as quickly. A mutant's energy comes from their powers, so you can't convert that into electricity, but you can take so much that it kills them. The rule for physical human interaction applies to mutants. The ability to take another mutant's powers is not right, especially since it can be used for evil, so you must never do it without the mutant's consent."

"What a curse," I said as I leaned back into the couch. He was right. I'm not so lucky. "Are you going to leave your life too?"

He shook his head. "Just until you get a new one."

"What about school?"

I could tell that he was going to laugh, but it was too soon. "After today, school is probably going to be cancelled for a while."

We sat on the couch, watching the news for any update on today's events. All they talked about was things we already know. Nothing about me, though.

Dan told me about when he triggered his powers.

"I got drunk one summer in Colorado going into freshman year. I was walking on a high bridge when I suddenly slipped and fell off. As I was in the air about to hit the ground, I started to wish I were a bird. Next thing I know, I'm flying."

Now it makes sense.

I scoffed. "You got it easy."

He shook his head. "Not really. Not as bad as you, though, but sometimes, if I fully turn into an animal, I'll forget myself. That's why I only like to mimic certain parts of animals."

There was one question bothering me. I knew my answer, but did he know his? Was his the same? Probably not. "Do you hate being a mutant? Having to hide your true self so that people won't judge you and call you a freak?"

"It hasn't given me a reason to. It's not that hard to hide it."

Unlike me. "Do you have a superhero name?"

He laughed. "What?"

I gasped. "Every superhero has to have a name?"

We laughed.

"I wouldn't consider myself a superhero.

I clapped my hands together. "Neither would I but it comes with the powers! It's like comic book guidelines." I thought to myself. "Hmm… How about…Zoo?"

He gave me a disgusted face then laughed.

"Animal?"

"Isn't that a Muppet?"

I laughed. "You're right. Too generic… How about…Creature?"

He thought about it for a while. "Creature…" he said to himself. "I like it!"

We laughed.

"You do me!" I commanded.

He thought. His green eyes lit up with excitement as he tried to think up a name for me. "How about the Untouchable?" He spoke it with such drama in his voice.

I shook my eye with confusion.

"Electracy?"

We were silent…then we burst out laughing.

"You're worse with coming up with names than I am!"

He looked offended, but was joking. "Hey!" Then he suddenly looked like he found the perfect name. "What about Phenomena? It fits after what happened today."

I like the name so I took it.

It was only seven o' clock and I was already tired.

"You go to bed. I'll watch the news. Tomorrow, I'll call up my buddy and get you started on that new identity."

I got in bed, and was about to turn off the lamp on the bedside table when I thought of something. I looked at the lamp and said to myself, "Off." Sure enough, it turned off. I did the same thing with all the lights. I practiced this a lot at night over the next week. It came to the point where I could just move my finger and they'd all turn off. I was learning to do things with electricity that were just so amazing I forgot about how I couldn't have any physical human interaction.

My body allowed me to sleep till twelve in the afternoon. It's not like I had anything to do. I walked into the bathroom with my toothbrush. I hadn't looked in the mirror in over twenty-four hours.

My hair! It was parted over to the side as always but the part looked like a lightning bolt and no matter what I did, it would only stay like that. The tips of my hair were golden blonde.

"Dan!" I called out.

He came rushing in immediately. "What's wrong?"

"My hair! It changed!"

He shrugged. "Something usually does." I looked at him curiously. "Here, I'll show you." He walked up to the mirror and took out one of his contacts. When he turns to me, I gasp. His whole eye was black. He looked like a demon from a horror movie. I look down at the contact. It was white with the green circle.

"Well…" I look up at him. "Creature is really fitting for you."

He laughed, put the contact back in, and walked out of the bathroom.

I continued to examine my hair until I started to smell tomato soup. My favorite! I run out of the bathroom down the stairs, and turn into the kitchen that takes its place under the platform at the top of the stairs. Dan is in there boiling a pot of soup.

"You hungry?" he asks.

I sit at the island and nod my head. He pours some into a bowl and hands me it along with a spoon.

As I sat eating my soup, he talked to me about the life I'd be leaving behind.

"Are you going to miss it?" he carefully asked.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. Maybe. My life wasn't anything special. My parents pay so much attention to my other siblings that they probably won't notice that I'm gone till it becomes evident. And my friends, though I love them so much, were not anything special either. Together we had fun, but we never did anything super exciting. You know what I mean?"

He nodded and laughed. "I'm guessing what happened yesterday made you realize this."

"What about you? If we were switched right now, would you miss your life?"

"My life is a cycle. Everyday seems like the one before. My life is in a rut."

I looked at him, shocked. "Then come away with me!"

He shook his head. "It'll be too suspicious. If they see that two people who've never talked to each other their entire lives are suddenly missing after yesterday's incident, they'll know it's mutant related."

They? "Who's they?"

He sighed. "Have you ever wondered why we never talked before? Living across the street practically our whole lives and never speaking?"

"Because there was nothing to say. We are too different…" I thought for a second. "Were different."

He shook his head. "No, it's because I made sure we didn't. This secret society that lives for killing mutants, they have people watching every middle and high school. One sudden social change and they are watching you like a hawk. If you really are a mutant, they'll figure it out before you can even say mutant."

"So you're just going to stay in your horrible life?"

"I have no choice! It's either you or me and my cover hasn't been blown. I might join you at the end of the summer, but for now I need to get past these last three months of my senior year before I go making any big life-altering choices."

We were silent as we finished our now lukewarm soup.

"Dan?"

He set his bowl and spoon in the sink. "Yeah?"

"Where are you sending me?"

He turned towards me and set his hands on the counter behind him. "Up north. Westchester, New York. There's a place there for people like us. They can help you learn to control your powers. I think it's called the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning."


	2. The Plan

"That reminds me. I talked to my buddy and he'll be able to get you a new identity in a week. I'll get you some money and send you on a train up there."

"Money?! Oh no, I couldn't!"

He pushed my words away. "Just enough to get you up there and some for food. You need all the help you can get."

A week went by faster than expected. Dan and I spent most of the days showing off our powers to one another. One night, after Dan had gone to bed, as I lay awake in bed after waking up from my nightmare, I realized something. I woke up Dan to show him my new trick.

"Watch," I said as I held a metal fork in my hand.

"Tracy," he said condescendingly.

I stuck the fork into the electrical outlet. I felt the electricity flow into me. My body absorbing as much of it as possible. Dan started laughing and I joined him.

"Be careful Tracy. You don't want to soak up the whole building's…"

Lights go out.

"Power."

I pulled the fork out. Dan ran into the hallway to see that all the power was out. I looked out the window to see that the rest of the city still had power.

"Good job Tracy," Dan laughs. "You've taken the power of the whole damn building."

I laugh, stick the fork back in the socket and give it all back. I was sad that I had to because the power felt good.

Dan took me to the train station in silence. I wore my hoodie and sunglasses. He handed me my new ID and passport. I was the same age, same birthday, but new town, new name.

"Mena Wattson?" I look up at him. "Really?"

He laughs. "Hey, I think it fits."

Tears start streaming down my cheeks. He pulls me in for a hug. Our arms tightly wrap around each other. I make sure my skin doesn't touch his.

"I'll miss you Creature."

"I'll miss you, Phenomena."

We hold on just a bit longer. Then, I back away to look him in the eye. "I promise you, as soon as I am able to figure out my life, I'm going to save you from yours." He shook his head and was about to say something, but I spoke before he could. "I can tell that you're miserable. You need adventure. A life more exciting than this. If this place you're sending me to really has people like us, then it's got to be full of excitement. I mean look at us!"

He laughs. "I think I've had enough excitement in one week. I need a break." He laughs again. "But I'll miss it." He grabs my shoulders, making sure not to touch my skin. "Tracy, this is only a break. I promise we will see each other again."

"ALL ABOARD!" the conductor screamed.

We hugged one last time, and then I picked up my bag and got onto the train. I sat next to the window so that I could see Dan. He waves at me and I wave back. The train pulls out and he follows it out until there's no more platform.

I pass the time with reading.

At one point I get up to go to the bathroom. I feel something hitting me in my pocket. In the bathroom, I take out an envelope from my hoodie pocket. It says Phenomena on the front. I take out the note.

"To be sure that we do see each other again, here's something of importance to me. For when we see each other again. When I can, I will come for this…and you."

I look in the envelope to find his lacrosse State Championship ring in there. It easily fits on the ring finger of my left hand.

When the train pulls into Westchester, I get off. I hail a taxi and ask them to take me to the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. The place looks more like a mansion than a school when the taxi pulls up out front.

I walk up to the big doors and ring the doorbell. The door doesn't open, but a girl walks through.

"I'm definitely in the right place," I say to her. She giggles as she goes in for a welcoming hug, but I back away. "Sorry, it's nothing personal, but that's my power. Can't be touched."

She doesn't look surprised. "We've got someone with that same power! You'll be excited to meet someone like you. Welcome!" She grabs my sleeve and pulls me through the door.

"Hey everyone! Come welcome out newest mutant!"

From everywhere comes a thunder of feet running and stomping. Suddenly, a blue man appears before me. He's big and looks similar to a gorilla. "I'm Dr. Hank McCoy, the vice-principle of the school." He tries to shake my hand but the girl stops him.

"She's like Rogue."

"What about me?" asked a girl with auburn hair, except for her side bangs, which were pure white.

"She's just like you Rogue! Well, like how you used to be." The girl turns to me and looks surprised. "Oh my gosh! I never got your name! I'm Kitty by the way."

I hesitated for a second, wondering if I should give her my real name or my new name. I decided that I was safe here. "My name was Tracy, but I prefer Mena now."

More people, mostly kids and people around my age, greet me, telling me their names and powers. Dr. McCoy disappears at one point.

Once everyone has cleared, Kitty says, "You need to meet Logan and the others." She leads me to a large living room with multiple massive fireplaces and multiple couches and chairs that center around each fireplace. At one of fireplaces is a man with dark brown hair that is shaped funny. He's talking to Dr. McCoy. Sitting on a couch talking to him is a girl with short red hair. She turns to look at me.

"That's her," she says. Kitty, Rogue, and I walk across the room towards them.

"Mena, this is Logan and Rachel."

Logan is drinking a beer. "Rachel already informed me of her situation."

"Her situation?" Kitty asked.

I was filled with surprise. How'd they know?

"I have telepathy," Rachel answers.

"Kitty, Rogue, this girl is in trouble."

Rogue sits on a couch and crosses her arms. "If it's anything close to what I did then she'll be fine."

"No," he shakes his head. "This is different. She's like you, but she possess more power. And with more power comes less control over it."

"Tell them Mena," Rachel tells me.

Before I was able to start, a man with dark brown hair and red eyes, holding a deck of cards, and had a headband going across his forehead and had a trench coat on walked into the room and sat next to Rogue. They held hands, and it bothered me. How could she be like me if she is able to touch? He introduced himself as Gambit.

I explain the incident, my powers, and the group of anti-mutants probably watching me.

When I was done, Logan said, "The only way she can live a safe life is if we fake her death and have her take on this fake persona of Mena Wattson before that group of anti-mutants track her down and kill her."

"What about Dan?"

"Right now his cover is not at risk," Dr. McCoy explains. "He still has a choice. Either joining you here or continuing his normal life. Let him graduate before he has to make that choice."

I agreed.

"This place isn't for everyone," a voice in my head says. No one else seems to have heard this voice and it seems not to have come from anyone in this room. I look around and see someone in the far distance.

"Who is that?" I whisper to Kitty as the others discuss my situation.

"Chamber, but he prefers to go by Jono."

"How was I able to hear him as clearly as I can hear you?"

"His powers took away his ability to speak. He can talk telepathically but not read your thoughts."

More people joined us and introduced themselves. Jono finally walked in last.

"I guess I don't need to introduce myself since Kitty already did," said the voice in my head. I noticed he had a British accent.

"Sorry," Kitty said aloud.

This was going to take some getting used to.

I joined back into the conversation. "Why do y'all want to help me?"

I noticed Jono's eyes indicating he was smiling. I couldn't tell because he had a scarf that covered his mouth.

I heard his laugh in my head. "That's what we do. We help. Us mutants have to stick together."

"Jono's right," Bobby Drake said. "This place was built as a sanctuary for people like us. We help everyone and each other."

"So what do y'all plan to do?" I asked. Again, Jono's eyes indicated a smile.

Logan took a sip of his beer then set it down on top of the fireplace. "This death won't only help you get a clean slate, but also throw off any suspicion of where you actually are."

They discussed how they were going to fake my death, when I thought of it. "Colorado! My family has a cabin in the mountains. We could make it seem that I was hiding there. We could fake me in a car that I drove off the mountain that exploded. My supposed body would be so mangled and burnt to ashes that the only thing to identify me is my ID."

Everyone looked at me surprised. No one expected me to be so smart, especially with me being the youngest from what I can tell.

"Brilliant!" Kitty exclaimed. She was about to hug me, but stopped herself. "It's going to be hard getting used to this."

Everyone laughed, but Logan just took a sip of his beer.

"Just show us where this cabin is and we'll do the rest," Dr. McCoy said.

They took me to a room where they pulled up a map of Colorado on a computer that projects it onto the wall. I point to the area that it's in and they'd zoom in. This process would continue until they found it.

"It's been what? A week since the incident?" asked Joanna.

I nodded. The image of that day flashed into my head along with Mrs. Macy's memories. I shut my eyes tight as I try to suppress the memories.

I flinch when a hand touches my shoulder. "You okay?" asks Jono in my head.

His voice blocks the memories and I am able to come to. I look up to him and smile. "Yes, thank you." But he doesn't seem to understand what I'm thanking him for.

"Jono, give Mena a room, and make sure she's alone," Logan said.

I looked at him curiously. "Why alone?"

"It's only for the time being until we are able to assess your powers further than what you've told us," Xi'an adds.

Jono starts to walk with me out of the room, but then I stop. "Dan. Someone needs to fill Dan in about tomorrow."

"I'll do it!" Kitty exclaimed.

I shook my head. "I need to see him again."

"To risky," Jono spoke in my head. Only I could hear him.

"If there's a chance that he's being watched too, we can't take that risk. Kitty will go to him. No one can spot you or the plan won't work," Paige said.

I didn't care. I needed to see Dan. It hasn't even been a day but I think it would be better if he heard what was going on from me. I look down at the ring. When I can, I will come for this…and you. It's not time. I nodded my head in defeat.

"You made a smart choice, Mena."

I walked out, following Jono.


End file.
